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Obscure companies making excellent speakers?
Found on the forum names of speaker manufacturers unfamiliar to me that supposedly are using new technologies or designs and as a result are making big impressions on fellow goners. Would like to see a list of these young and not so young companies that otherwise fly under the radar because advertisement just too expensive or not viable.
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Add to this list the following: Oskar Heil Speakers--keeping alive the Heil pleated ribbon speaker technology. I heard these at CES a while back and thought they sounded pretty promising. Trenner & Friedl -- Austrian, I believe. They make very musical sounding compact dynamic speakers. Gradient--very good sounding speakers that are specifically designed to be very versatile when it comes to room placement. I have heard the Revolution (active biamped) at shows placed very close to both a back and side wall in a small room, and the sound was quite good for such a conventionally bad location. ESP-- heard the big boys at a show and liked the overall weight and good tonal qualities, although they did sound a touch "slow" and lacking in dynamics. Gershman--several quite good models, in terms of overall tonality, weight and musicality. |
Another one for the list...while I've not heard any of Danny's work, I'm in love with the looks of the GR Research OB-7. I would be interested in hearing a pair that has been tweeked by Response Audio and with cabnets built by Custom Concepts. |
Well, Pedrillo, since you asked... Okay this brand has advertised in at least one of the big magazines, but they sell direct only and even sell through Audiogon (surely that qualifies them!): Tyler Acoustics. At CES 2008, the best under-ten-grand-total (electronics, wires & all) room I encountered was the Tyler Acoustics room. Selah Audio is designer Rick Craig's house brand, and his speakers have also impressed me greatly. Finally, you probably didn't catch this but Musicfile suggested my designs, which I sell under the brand name "AudioKinesis". Duke |
I am an ATC man and have used their professional products for years. Check out the 20s and 150s. Never heard anything better for a precise sound. They play all genres well: I like 20 different styles, and am never disappointed. As Shadorne said, they like to be played LOUD and have more intense dynamics as you move up. For musicality, I also like Almarro tube amps matched to their speakers. Really relaxed sound and plays Jazz and R & B in truely wonderful ways. Some of the best organic sounding gear I have heard for pure pleasure. Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye and Miles Davis sound fantastic. Leema is an up and coming monitor company out of the UK. Make wonderful amps that marry well with their speakers. Along with LFD, probably the next "buzz" product from over there. For cheap pro gear, I think that Blue Sky Audio make wonderful product for budding musicians. |
Here is a list including everything mentioned: Meridian, Green mountain audio, kcsloudspeakers.com, Tidal audio, Danish System Audio, ATC, Lansche, SP Technology, Omega Loudspeakers, Pi Speakers, Cogent, Classic Audio Reproductions, Magnestand, Intuitive Design, ACI, Von Gaylord, Amphion, Sanders Sound, Sonicweld, Shahinian, Analysis Audio, Linkwitz, Daedalus, Tonian Labs, Huff, S.A.P., Duevel (not a belgian beer), Hornshoppe, Ridgestreet Audio, Wolcott Audio, Morrison, Rethm, North Creek Music, Emerald Physics, Devore, JM Reynaud, Penaudio Serenade, Cerious Technologies. Cannot verify for spellings as I copied from above respponses. Are there any others this seems to be a long list? |
I've recently taken in Lansche to our stable of distributed brands, so I'm in complete agreement with you but hope that efforts here will help them fly right into the radar! On the issue of the Corona tweeter: The 8mm plasma ball in the Lansche system is twice as big as that employed by Acapella, lending it the ability to perform at an octave lower - as you noticed. What most folks don't know is that the Lansche Corona also performs out to 150kHz - the only tweeter I know of that can do this. From what I gather, Acapella's Corona HF limit is 40kHz. I'm not sure how this translates to what humans can hear, but I suspect that it may help with the rise time of HF transients. As a package - due to the active bass as well as the plasma tweeter - the Lansche 4.1 system rolls in with the most impressive specs I've ever seen for a loudspeaker system: 20Hz-150kHz @ 99dB sensitivity, able to sustain 115dB. - Chris (distributor) |
Outwardly the speaker is so understated that it looks more at home in a pawn shop than a high-end boutique. Amfibius, I agree - they are plain and ugly looking. They make only a few models - basically different box sizes and limited by the fact they use their own drivers (apart from tweeters which are often of a cheaper variety). Rather than spend money on cabinetry they seem to devote their energy to transducer R&D and active designs that change only once in a blue moon. In essence one of their strengths is the sound barely changes between small to large models (just gets progressively louder/greater dynamics) and from one decade to the next (making the same transducers for 20+ years). They certainly make it difficult for a reviewer to get excited about a new product! I think ATC was fair game for "obscure". About as bizarre as it gets in an audiophile world which seems to be a constant sea of change; where companies come and go and seem to either completely change designs every few years or offer hundreds of choices which often sound very different....clearly a fashion/aesthetics driven world in which ATC, with a handful of staff, is very much out of place. I agree with Duke that they may not be obscure enough in the sense that was perhaps intended on the thread (meaning relativley unknown) - they certainly have amassed a loyal following which allows them to behave with relative impunity towards industry norms (aesthetics/marketing/dealer networks/attractive price point usually being quite a bit more important than the actual sound...although their newest consumer range looks like an assault at a lower price point for better value). |
North Creek Music. Kits and systems. Unique designs (near-wall specific monitors, ribbons). Fanatically high-grade crossovers. Innovative work copied by others. Very rare to find any North Creek speakers used. http://www.northcreekmusic.com/ |
First let's start with some largely if not entirely under-the-radar companies producing high-quality speakers that I have heard and admired but presently have no commercial ties to (this list is from memory and no doubt incomplete). In no particular order: - SP Technology: Advanced constant-directivity waveguides, very low crossover for a two-way. - Omega Loudspeakers: High quality, natural sounding full-range single-driver monopole and bipole speakers. - Pi Speakers: High value, very well designed high efficiency kits. - Cogent: High efficiency speakers using very cool field-coil drivers. - Classic Audio Reproductions: High quality high efficiency speakers, possibly offering field-coil as an option soon. - Magnestand: Superbly done hotrodded Maggies - Intuitive Design: Incredible precision and quality - ACI: Excellent sound from conventional drivers through very intelligent design. - Von Gaylord: Again fairly conventional format, but superbly executed. - Amphion: Relatively wide-pattern waveguides from Finland. - Green Mountain Audio: Probably not exactly "below the radar", but imho the pinnacle of phase-conscious design. - Sanders Sound: The return of Roger Sanders with his excellent electrostats. - Sonicweld: My nomination for best speaker; not cheap, but this is how you do DSP right. Very intelligent design. - Shahinian: Voiced for orchestral music, gives a richness similar to a good omni but with more natural image size. - Analysis Audio: High quality full-range ribbon dipole. - Linkwitz: Multi-amped dynamic dipole. - Daedalus: High efficiency and quality without horns. - Tonian Labs: High efficiency wideband drivers augmented by a supertweeter, very well done. - Huff: On a custom basis, offers ultra high quality omni systems. - S.A.P.: Strange little Italian speaker whose driver complement is visually reminiscent of a Fisher-Price toy but they sound great. - Duevel: Innovative omnidirectional designs. And here are some companies whose designs I have not heard but find very interesting: - Hornshoppe: Very high performance from a small fullrange driver. - KCS Loudspeakers: Incredible parts and build quality for the price; I am amazed at what John offers and conclude that his profit margin must be extremely small. - Ridgestreet Audio: Very high quality parts. - Wolcott Audio: Innovative quasi-horn high-output omnidirectional system. - Morrison: Another innovative omni system, more compact than the Wolcott. I am omitting several imho worthy-of-mention loudspeakers that I have commercial ties to. edit: Shadorne, I also think very highly of ATC but considered it to fly "above the radar horizon". Amfibius, I should have included Lansche on my list; that was one of my favorite speakers at CES this year. Duke dealer/manufacturer |
Shadorne I would have to agree with ATC. These are very homely looking speakers. Outwardly the speaker is so understated that it looks more at home in a pawn shop than a high-end boutique. But you only need to listen to them to understand. Their styling and marketing does them no favours though. I would nominate Lansche audio as a company that flies under the radar. They are the only other company to make plasma tweeters (the other being Acapella), only that the Lansche Corona tweeter goes down to 2.5khz. The Acapella ION tweeter goes from 5kHz up. |
fly under the radar because advertisement just too expensive or not viable. I don't think I have ever seen ATC advertise although they are longtime supporters of the Audio Engineering Society and have published peer-reviewed engineering papers on speaker technology, which is a form of advertising if you think about it. ATC management and design staff are bona-fide degreed audio engineers rather than DIYers with a passion for audio that became gifted at cabinet making and went into business from that route. One of the few small companies that make their own transducers instead of sticking to wood work and third party parts assembly. ATC is a UK company based in rural Gloucestershire (presumably for access to lower cost labour and skilled crafts people). They tend to sell speakers by word of mouth and have have barely began to penetrate US markets in the last ten years; they remain a name that the majority of North American Hi-Fi dealers and audiophiles have never even heard of. They fulfill a small niche for Studio precision/reference sound at realistic SPL levels/dynamics of live music but with audiophile precision rather than PA sound (PA or live event sound reinforcement is a much bigger market as JBL and Bose can attest to). Recently, ATC have began installs in exclusive night clubs/Jazz clubs and high end concert halls such as the Disney Concert Hall in LA....again a niche market. They also have made home studio installations for some well known musicans/artists. |
